


december 4th: where the heart is

by watergator



Series: december fic advent 2019 [4]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: prompt: friendsdan and phil visit manchester
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: december fic advent 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559341
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	december 4th: where the heart is

Manchester has a certain air about it. It’s not that different from London, really. A highly populated city like London probably has the same fraction of pollution that builds up in their home city.

But Manchester is bright. It’s wonderful and amazing and everything they love.

Ian and Lauren’s house is like a comfort to them. They don’t have the safety and the security of their tiny almost-top floor flat anymore, but their friends still have their sweet little home with their sweet dogs and sweet daughter that makes visiting Manchester all that much more better than it already is.

It’s like a home away from home.

“Do you think you’d ever come back here?” Lauren asks them. She’s sat on the opposite couch, her legs are tucked underneath her looking comfortably snug.

Phil shrugs. “Probably not,” he tells her honestly. “Manchester is great, but I think me and Dan moved away for good when we left.”

Lauren hums just as Dan and Ian emerge from the kitchen, holding two mugs each.

Dan hands Phil’s his with a smile before joining him on the sofa, his thigh pressed up against his like it belongs there.

(It does. It’s warm and comforting and grounding.)

“So not considering it then,” Ian says. He’s sat beside Lauren with his arm around the back of the sofa. 

That must have heard the conversation beforehand because Dan chuckles and sits forward.

“Phil wishes he could move up North,” he tells them. “I think we should savour it for retirement.”

Ian laughs loudly and Phil looks at Dan beside him. Dan glances at him, their eyes meet, a cheeky look possesses him and Phil can already tell what’s coming. “So it won’t be long really, will it?”

Phil uses his free hand to give his leg a firm slap.

“Oi!” Phil tells him through a laugh. 

“I saw that coming,” Lauren nods with a grin. “He’s real meanie, ain’t he?”

Her Northern accent comes in thick and strong and it makes Phil feel a tad nostalgic for his childhood.

Dan leans back in his seat, clearly pleased with himself.

Phil takes a gulp of his coffee and smacks his lips together.

“I think London is good for us right now,” Phil carries on the conversation and Lauren hums.

“Well, we’ve decided that it’s not a forever place, is it?” Dan adds looking at Phil for confirmation.

“No, no,” Phil shakes his head in agreement. “Someplace quiet and probably a lot less dangerous. Someplace that’ll be good to perhaps raise—“

He’s cut off by a voice by the door, followed by little thundering steps before heavier ones can be heard.

Emily comes bounding in, Bowie in tow as he happily follows, tongue hanging from his mouth, watching the girl cross the room to head to her mother.

“Mum! Mum, look!”

She’s flapping around a piece of paper in her hand that’s scribbled in brightly coloured crayon.

Lauren takes it gently from her and gasps.

“Oh wow, Em, this is so pretty, look at this, dad!”

She shows it to Ian who has a similar reaction all whilst Emily stands looking sweetly impressed with herself, her smile beaming.

Phil watches how her eyes sparkle, how excited she becomes for the happiness and love from her parents. He looks at Dan who’s watching the entire scene unfold before them.

He’s caught staring when Dan look at him and he feels his chest burst with warmth, like a water balloon filled with warm water.

It’s a nice feeling.

“Why don’t you show Phil and Dan, hm?” He hears Ian says, and with that Emily is crossing the room where she confidently clambers up where Dan is sat, artwork clutches in her little hands.

Dan helps her up until she’s sat in his lap.

“Look,” she says, handing him the paper.

Dan takes it and makes wide eyes and a silly face that makes her laugh. 

“Oh wow!” He says. She hides her face behind an arm as she giggles. “Look at this! This is beautiful, Phil, look at what Em has made!”

He shows Phil and he plays along. Really it’s just a bunch of squiggles.

Squiggles that probably have some meaning to the seven year old, but he plays it up just for her benefit. It’s worth it, the way she beams and laughs.

The drawing is set down careful before Dan starts tickling her. She rolls around, his hand on her back to make sure she doesn’t fall off and her laugh is so real and loud it makes Phil laugh a little too.

He watches how well Dan gets on with her; his natural way with kids and how he makes it click. There’s no awkwardness or shying away. Dan holds a lot of love in heart for little people.

Maybe because he knows how much love they deserve to feel in case it fucks them up later in life.

He doesn’t want to think about that now though, not when Dan’s laughing and Ian and Lauren is here and they’re all surrounded with each other in a home full of love.

Emily eventually has enough and Dan lets her go where she potters off with the dog trailing behind her.

*

A few hours later with a good couple of slices of pizzas in thefriir bellies, Emily tucked up in bed with a story read to her and the adults are sat back downstairs with a bottle of wine and a finished board game.

“I tell you every time,” Ian says loudly, maybe a glass of wine too many. “They’re not allowed to play together, they’re connected by the brain it’s… it’s weird, Laur!”

Dan’s laughing, head rolling back as he lets out a cackle. Phil has to place a hand on his knee, a gentle and silent reminder of the child upstairs trying to sleep.

Dan bushes himself and squints his eyes in a quieter, more controlled laugh.

“We’re just  _ too  _ good for you, Ian. Just admit it.”

Ian chuckles and pushes the dice around the table and shakes his head.

“Maybe so,” he says looking up, eyes flickering between them. “But I still stand by my mind connection theory.”

Phil snorts a laugh. “I think someone is just jealous how amazing we are,” he jokes, leaning forward that the last of his wine sloshes about in his glass.

“You’re the one who called yourself AmazingPhil,” he jokes back, making Dan howl with laughter and Lauren simply tuts, a smile pulls at her lips and as she pats at her husband's leg, much like Phil had done to Dan.

“I think you’re all tired and need your naps,” she tells them all. “Sleepy boys don’t play nice.”

Ian hums before he breaks out in a laugh again, setting them all off again.

Eventually, the night grows longer and the wine in Phil’s system stops working as something to make him buzz, but instead makes his head feel tired and his eyes go droopy.

“You know where your room is,” Lauren yawns as she they finish clearing up their little board game night mess.

They say goodnight, Dan thanks Laura for the food and wine once again, simply because he has a need to be overly polite all the time, and once the dogs are let out for a wee, Dan and Phil are heading upstairs to their spare room.

They shut the door and strip down to their pants, where Dan happily flops onto the bed face first, making a groaning noise into the pillow.

Phil climbs over him to his side. He feels a smug smile tug at his lips.

“Too much wine, darling?”

Dan manages to pull himself up to slot himself next to Phil, letting out another sleepy groan.

“Those friends of ours,” he croaks. “Bad influence.”

Phil snorts. “Wine bad, bed good.”

Dan cracks an eye open to look at him, letting out a week and sleepy breath of laughter.

“Phil good. Bed good. Manchester good.”

Phil rolls to his side to face Dan. He has his eyes closed again and it seems he’s definitely going to be falling asleep soon tonight.

“Dan good,” Phil whispers, nuzzling in closer to him. “Sleep good.”

He lets his eyes slip shut when he feels a pair of lips press at his forehead. He hums something happy and content.

“Go to sleep you dork,” Dan laughs, the last of today’s energy in one last sentence.

Phil flings an arm around his waist loosely and holds him close.

It doesn’t take long for them to fall asleep together.

It never does.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr !! @watergator


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